Towards Polymers from Oleochemicals via Homogenous Carbonylation Reactions
Thomas Seidensticker, Arno Behr, Andreas J. Vorholt, Technical University Dortmund, Faculty for Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.

The conversion of renewably derived resources into precursors for polymer applications has recently attracted much attention. In this respect, unsaturated oleo compounds are especially interesting, as these allow for the synthesis of bifunctional compounds by adding a second functionality. Homogeneous transition metal catalysis is particular advantageous for realizing highly linear products, to be applied in e.g. polycondensates. 
Among metathesis based approaches (beneficially in tandem with hydrogenation) carbonylation reactions are another important means of gaining access to renewably derived polyester monomers. Isomerizing methoxycarbonylation of e.g. methyl oleate with a specific Pd-catalytic system already showed the synergy in the transformation of renewable resources by homogeneous tandem catalysis.
We have recently developed other carbonylative reactions,[1] including tandem catalytic systems, which transform castor oil derived methyl 10-undecenoate and 10-undecenol into potential polymer precursors in a very atom-efficient manner (Figure 1). 

This contribution will give an overview of our work and discuss special tasks to be tackled towards the formation of polymers from oleochemicals. Within the context of certain examples, different aspects of this sustainable path will be discussed, such as monomer isolation, catalyst recycling and polymer synthesis. 
References:
[1].(a) K. A. Ostrowski, T. A. Faßbach, D. Vogelsang, A. J. Vorholt, ChemCatChem, 2015, 7, 2607–2613. (b) T. Seidensticker, J. Vosberg, K. A. Ostrowski, A. J. Vorholt, Adv. Synth. Catal., 2015, DOI 10.1002/adsc.201500896. (c) T. Seidensticker, J. J. von Dincklage, C. Diederichs, A. J. Vorholt, 2016, submitted.